There were many heatly debated topics coming out of the 2013 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. A selection of the best quotes of the day is offered below.

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Dario Franchitti and Roger Penske on whether Team Penske’s conduct was unsportsmanlike:

Franchitti: “If people start doing that kind of stuff in pit lane, it gets very dangerous. We’ve always had a rule, no matter what team we’ve been racing with or against in a championship: any guy in pit lane, there’s always that professional courtesy. That clearly wasn’t the case today. That’s disappointing.”

Penske: “I think you should look at the tape. Our man who changed the tire picked the tire up, was running behind the car. It wasn’t that he stuck the tire out. He didn’t leave the tire on the ground where it could have been in the way. I think they’re way overplaying this thing as far as I’m concerned. Someone got hit, went up in the air. Obviously the 9 car was too close to our crew, had an accident there. The outcome is obvious. These are things that are pretty clear in the rule book. You go to 701.16 in the rule book, if a team member gets hit in the pits, there’s a drive-through.

“I’d love to have Dario here. As far as I’m concerned, he’s off base. Our guys were doing a job, changing the tires, picked the tires up, got hit by a car from behind. You start to get personalities into this, what we’re doing running for a championship, it’s ridiculous.”

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Beaux Barfield on what he factored into the decision to penalize Dixon:

“Ultimately, we have a duty to protect everybody in the pit lane. If we have somebody who uses less than great judgment when they leave their pit box and we have an incident, then we have to make a statement by penalizing and we’re going to make that call. There are a couple of different (video) angles, and clearly the 9 car crosses right into the 12 car’s space and that’s where the violation occurred. He was in the 12 car’s box for a good half-car length.

“If I’m going to be sensitive to the fact that a guy’s running for a championship or a guy is leading the race, those are really unfair considerations. The reality is if I consider not penalizing that guy because he’s in the run for the championship, I think if he wins the championship that casts a shadow on the championship because you equally disadvantage the other guy. I refused to look at those items when I reviewed this. I looked at it strictly from a standpoint of what kind of statement do we need to make to keep this pit lane safe, and today there were a couple of items that we responded to that I think were absolutely in line with what we want to achieve in terms of pit lane safety.”

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On the restart where Dario Franchitti felt Will Power was too aggressive:

Franchitti: “We had that one restart where I went up to turn two there, got upside of Will, that’s when he drove me off the track. That’s when Scott had his drive-through, as well. It wasn’t a high point for the officials, I would say, in that section of the race.” (When asked about repairing relations with Power:)“What the hell is it up to me to repair it for? I was the victim in that one. I’m pretty pissed off right now. Yeah, Will was pushing hard. It wasn’t some crazy, really mad thing. But, you know, I was driven off the track and nothing was done about it. So I’m more mad at race control for not doing anything as usual than I am at Will, really.”

Power: “I mean, we barely touched. That’s just racing. I’m surprised at his displeasure. Dixon did exactly the same thing to me when roles were reversed on the first restart. Dario seems to have a short memory because in Detroit at the first corner he hit me a lot harder and I lost a bunch of positions. It’s just racing. He’ll cool down. Double-file restarts, what do you do? We’re side-by-side. Cars are going to touch. It’s not like I KO’d him into the wall.”

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Franchitti on a lack of clarity from race control:

“As drivers, right now we don’t know what the rules are. We don’t know what is acceptable, what isn’t. You see penalties, you see non-penalties for the same thing. As close as it is, we need to have a clear definition of what is and isn’t acceptable. We need to have a clear definition and it needs to be consistently policed.”

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Power on finally getting a win and what he’s learned from a tough year:

“I’ve learned a lot this year. I’ve been in the back of the pack. I’ve learned a lot about restarts. When you have a tough year, you really start searching, looking. You pick up things. Really feels like next year I’ll come back more a complete driver.”

Not sure what incident Penske was looking at but it sure looked like the tire changer was strolling wide behind the car with the tire held out wide. If he had been holding the tire at his side like you normally see…there probably would have been no contact. I do not think the guy was trying to get hit but I do hink he was trying to make Dixson’s exit slow and tricky.

Dixon was well into Power’s box at the time of contact, and the Penske crewman with the tire was also not anywhere close to the boundary. I thought Power had stopped short in his box, but that definitely was not the case. Beaux got this one right, no question.

Steve – I found Penske’s explanation a bit funny. His crew member was definitely not running & did have the tire sticking out…but yes he was within his pit box. Dixon did cut into the pit box but I think all the drivers do that. Usually the crew in front take care to not impede the other driver while still being able to do their jobs. I think Power’s guys saw a chance to get ahead coming out of the pits & were not going to make it easy for Dixon. Unfortunately crew members got hit. While the penalty against Dixon was within the rules…I think there was some unsportsmanlike behavior by Power’s crew.

Gotta agree with Steve 100% (and Beaux) here. Look at this incident from the other direction, on the entry to that same exact pitstop. Did Power cut through Dixon’s box and hit Dixon’s Right Front tire changer, because that guy was sort of in his way? Nope. The driver has to adjust his trajectory in or out of the box in response to whatever is in his way. Or, of course, the driver’s team could always wait and release the driver when it is safe to not hit anything (not suggesting Ganassi should have done this, just exaggerating a bit to illustrate the point). Dixon cut through Power’s box and hit a crew guy. Easiest call in the world to make.

The Speedgeek – I agree that the penalty was the right call…while an unpopular call, the rules are very clear on this matter.

The point that I was trying to make is that I do not think that Power’s crew guy was as innocent as Penske is trying to make it sound. I think Power’s crew had every intention of trying to slow Dixon’s exit from his pit box to gain the advantage coming out of the pits…Power left a split second after Dixon. If Dixon would have checked up, Power would have come out of the pits in front of him. And there is nothing in the rules (as far as I know) to punish a driver if his pit crew impedes another driver.
On a track where passing is very difficult….the advantage is gained in the pits. I do not think the crew guy intended to get hit and I don’t think Dixon tried to hit him. But I do feel that Power’s crew guy did not extend the professional courtesy that teams normally afford each other in these situation. I do not think the fact that Dixon went through Power’s pit box is relevant…that happens all the time….especially at tracks where the pits are tight.

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